Research
Transitioning to a renewable energy economy necessitates the development of new, sustainable energy technologies, to which electrochemistry is poised to play a pivotal role. To this goal, we employ principles at the intersection of (electro)chemical engineering, materials science, and physical chemistry to understand and develop novel electrochemical processes for energy conversion, storage, and sustainable chemical synthesis.

Our main interest is to understand the fundamental science of electrochemical systems while also working close to applications. Technologies of interests include redox flow batteries, fuel cells, and electrolyzers. We aim to understand and control materials using three sets of tools, i.e. (1) micro- and nanofabrication techniques for porous electrodes, (2) functionalization techniques to tailor interfaces, and (3) advanced operando characterization and imaging.
Porous Media
During the last few decades, materials scientists have made notable advances in the development of ordered porous materials for catalysis, energy, separations, and biological applications. However, a key remaining challenge is the development of scalable techniques to manufacture self-standing hierarchically organized porous materials. State-of-the-art electrochemical devices (e.g. fuel cells, redox flow batteries, metal-air batteries) use porous materials with poorly defined three-dimensional microstructures, leading to limitations in performance. Novel applications require the development of materials with sophisticated control over the architecture at different length-scales. For example, selecting an adequate average pore size, porosity, and tortuosity would reduce pressure drop losses, improve mass transport and reaction distribution, decrease ohmic resistance, and maintain a low weight. We develop fabrication techniques to prepare architected materials with various degrees of hierarchical organization.

Novel Coatings
The interfacial properties of solids and the interacting fluid define a number of important characteristics, such as electrochemically-active surface area, intrinsic activity, and wettability. Commonly used polymeric coatings are generally applied using dip-coating processes, and therefore lack accurate control over the distribution and morphology. In this thrust, we are interested in obtaining structure-function relationships, using well-defined model systems, to fundamentally understand the role of surface chemistry and morphology on the physicochemical and electrochemical properties. We employ electrografting and other techniques to grow thin films of selected polymers with tailored properties onto the surface of model electrodes and porous materials.

Advanced Diagnostics

Research Sponsors







